Conveyer apparatus



Dec. 5, 1939. w. s. RUGu vz-:T Al. 2,182,680

' coNvEYER APPARATUS Filed Dec. l5, 1936 3 'Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 5, 1939. w RUGG ET AL 2,182,680'

CONVEYER APPARATUS ATTORNEY'l Dec, 5, 1939. w. s. RUGG Er AL yCONVEYER APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 5, m S/ E @9% m Tay@ .O WFM @n mj A Vr B WITNESS Patented Dec. 5, 1939y UNITED STATESy PATENT OFFICE 2,182,680 coNvEYER APPARATUS Walter S. Rugg, Pittsburgh, and Alexander Palmros, Rochester, Pa.

l Application December 15, 1936, Serial No. 115,958

14I Claims. (Cl. 302,-11)

y1() a tendency of this matter to stick and clog in the material-carrying parts. To eliminate this difficulty, settling tanks of known types could not be employed, as they would be altogether too large in themselves, or with a screening device, 15 for a portable outfit such as is necessary in conjunction with ballast-cleaning machinery.

One object of our invention, therefore, is to provide effective and eiiicient apparatus for the removal of wet dirt, etc., so that the materialconveying apparatus may have the same capacity with respect to such wet material as when the material is dry. f

Another object of our invention is to provide a tubular structure for conveying material by fluid pressure with a substantially helicallywound wire or other means therein for scraping the walls, the pitch of said wire being either substantially constant within the tubular structure or gradually varying relatively to the distance from. the driven end, such variation, if employed, being preferably directly in accordance with such distance, to provide effective continucus cleaning of the tubular hose or other structure.

Another object or our invention is to provide apparatus of the character just described in which the pitch of the helical wire near its driven end is preferably less than that near its other end. A further object of our invention is to provide especially efcient helical wall scraping wire means, by reason of its direction of winding extending n the opposite sense from its direction of rotation,

Another object of our invention is to provide a suction structure for cleaning ballast, together with the above-noted helical scraping means having a pivotal connection therewith, the other ,.0 end of the helical means having a readily detachable connection with a power-driven means.

A further object of our invention is to provide an apparatus of the character just described in which the detachable connection has a handle ,55 extending within the helical wire and being pointed to reduce resistance to the material moving therepast.

Still another object of our invention is to provide in ballast cleaning apparatus or the like a substantially cylindrical combined conveyer cas- 5 ing and settling chamber with a conveyer structure, including a plurality of bent arms, for conveying material through the casing and scraping the sides and ends thereof, together with a second cylindrical casing communicating with an l0 outlet of the rst casing and having a rotatable valve member for continuously unloading and discharging-material from the rst casing. Y

A further object of our invention'is to provide a rotatable unloading valve with a plurality of -15 flexible, readily replaceable arms, thereby providing particularly effective action and inexpen sive maintenance.

Other objects of our invention will become evident from the following detailed description 20 taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view, ypartially in section butV mainly in elevation, of a portion of a ballast cleaning device organized in accordance with our 25 present invention;

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are views in end elevation showing the structure of the respective ends of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; v a

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal'sectional View of a part 30 of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; f l

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the conveyer structure of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a View, partially in elevation and partially in section, of a modified form of the hose- 35 cleaning device of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the structure herein shown comprises a combined conveyer casing and settling tank l having its lower portion 2 functioning primarily as a conveyer casing and 40 being associated with an unloader valve structure 3 at the dischargevv end of the casing, and having an upper or settling v.tank portion 4 through which air may be vented to a suitable discharge pipe 5 or the like. A preferably fleX- 45 ible lmaterial-conveying tubular structure, such as a ,hose 6, is provided, with a rotatable, helically-wound wire or other suitable scraper` 1 therein, the free end of which is pivotally associated with a suction structure 8 for insertion50 in `ballast or other matter for cleaning purposes, as hereinafter more fully described.

The'conveyer casing 2 may comprise substantially cylindrical casing members I l and I2 which are provided with suitable legs or supporting members I3 and I4. It will be understood that one or any number other than the two cylindrical casngs shown may be employed, if desired, within the purview of our invention, and that, in such case, other structures such as hose 4Ii and suction structure 8 will be duplicated.

One end of each of the cylindrical casings, namely, the left-hand end, as shown in Fig. 1, is provided with separate or combined end plates or caps I5 and I3 which are secured as by bolts I1 to the end walls of the casing. One purpose of each of these end caps is to assist in maintaining ilexible hose 6 in position in conjunction with a suitable yoke member I8 and an internal sleeve 23. Each yoke member I8 has upper and lower bifurcated portions I 9 for receiving swivel bolts 2i) or similar members which are pivoted on the respective end caps I 5 and I6 by means of pins 2I By means of this construction, each tubular structure or hose 6 may be suitably mounted in position by being forced over the hollow boss or sleeve 23 which is associated with each end cap i5 or I5 and extends outwardly therefrom, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. In order to lock the parts in position, whereby yoke member I8 suitably supports and maintains in position the corresponding sleeve 23, a plurality of nuts 22 are provided for the ends of swivel bolts 20. In order to more securely fasten the end 24 .of the hose B on the sleeve 23, a wire or similar wrapping 25 may be employed, as shown in Fig. 4, for example. A suitable end plate or cap I5a is bolted on the righthand end of casing 2.

The lower or conveyer casing 2 may be of relatively thick metal, as shown by the section in Fig. 4, while the upper portion 4 may be of thinner or even sheet metal, since it merely acts as a settling tank and conduit for escape of air. Air flowing into the structure from the hose 6 tends to rise upwardly, as indicated by the arrows, and flows around a horizontal baffle 26 into the central vent pipe or passage 5 which is preferably connected to an exhaust fan (not shown).

In each of the conveyer casings I I and I2, there is a central rotatable shaft 28, as shown in Fig. 4, which operates within a ball bearing 29 disposed within a hollow boss 30 at the right-hand end of each casing, as viewed in Fig. 4; To the extreme right-hand end of the shaft 28, a suitable power-driven member 3i may be secured, such as a sprocket, gear, pulley, or other similar device.

A preferably integral hollow boss or sleeve 3| extends within each casing II or I2 from the righthand end and has welded or otherwise suitably secured thereto a long sleeve 32 which extends for the length of 'over half of the casing and is provided at its free end with roller bearings 33 for the shaft 28. In addition, a rotatable sleeve 34 extends inwardly from the boss 3|, having a roller bearing connection 35 on the long internal sleeve 32, and is secured to a sleeve 36, the lefthand end of which is provided with a suitable plug or cap 3l which has a key 42, for example, for fitting into a slot in shaft 2B to be driven thereby. In this way, rotation of the shaft 28 within the sleeve bearing 32 likewise eiects rotation of the outer sleeves 36 and 34 for the purpose of driving the conveyer blades 45, as subsequently described.

For the purpose of providing a readily detachable connection between shaft 28 and the helical wire 'I, a conical connector 39, preferably of a familiar bayonet connection type, to which wire 'i is secured, is fastened to the left-hand end of shaft 2B and has a handle 4U with a pointed end 4I extending to the left within the helical wire l, the parts 40 and 4I serving as a handle to readily connect or disconnect the member 39 with a partial turn in order to permit removal of the helical wire I from the power-driven shaft 28. The purpose of the small diameter and tapered end of the handle structure 4U and 4I is to provide a minimum of resistance against the material which flows through the hose 5 and past this hanl dle structure.

A double helical ribbon conveyer member, constituting continuous blade portions 45a and 45D, best shown in Fig. 5, extends around the handle structure 4I, detachable connector 39, rotatable sleeve 36 and rotatable boss 34, being driven from the latter by means of L-shaped arms 46 which have substantially vertical knife or scraper edges 44 where they come in contact with the end walls I5a of the casing II or I2. To further support this helical conveyer ribbon, posts 47 are welded or otherwise secured near the outer end and at other spaced intervals, as desired, of rotatable sleeve 36, the outer ends of the posts being suitably welded or otherwise secured to portions of `the ribbon members 45a and 45h.

While I have shown two spaced similarly wound conveyer blades 45aI and 45h, as a preferable structure, it will be understood that a single night or helical edgewise blade of this character, with preferably smaller pitch, may be employed, if desired.

The outer diameter of each edge-wise-disposed ribbons 45a and 45h is such as to substantially fill the interior of the corresponding casing II or I2, thus efficiently scraping these cylindrical wallsI while the knife edges 44 of end-supporting members 46 scrape the end walls, as previously mentioned, at the one side, and the free ends of the helical members 45a and 45h (shown at the lefthand end of casing 2 in Fig. 4) likewise scrape "f the adjacent wall.

By clockwise rotation of the powder-driven member 3 I, as viewed from the right-hand end of Fig. 4, the double helical ribbon conveyer structure is rotated to convey the material from the hose 6 toward the right-hand or delivery end of the casing II or I2, at which point a second substantially cylindrical casing 41, comprising the outer casing of unloading valve 3, is provided each of the valves communicating with an opening 49 in the cylindrical wall of the casing II or I2, as the case may be, and the unloader valve being suitably secured to that casing by means of bolts 48, for example. It will be understood, however, that valve casing openings 49 may be disposed in the right-hand end plates I5a of casing II and I2 to feed directly into valve casings 3 at that point, if desired.

A central shaft 5D, which may be driven in any suitable manner, is keyed to a hub portion 5I having a plurality of ilexible blade members 52, which, by reason of their rotation, carry sections of material from the corresponding casing II or I2 and discharge it from a bottom opening 53 either on to the ground or on to a conveyer belt, if so desired. The blades 52 are preferably of a flexible molded rubber composition having enlarged inner ends 52a fitting in correspondingly shaped slots in hub portion 5I. By reason of this nexible construction, each normally curved blade 52 rapidly straightens out when it reaches bottom opening 53, as shown. thus imparting a particularly effective ejecting movement to the material l, being unloaded. Moreover, by reason of employing such molded rubber or the like blades 52,

when one is worn, it may be quickly replaced by merely removing the end cap 5d of corresponding unloading valve 3, slidingV the worn blade longitudinally out of hub 5l and sliding a new blade in, its inner knob 52a serving -to properly hold it in position. l e

The tubular structure or hose t may be of any well known type, one end thereof being secured, as previously noted, to the intake end of the'corresponding casing ll or i2, while the other end is secured to an elbow 58 of suction structure 8, being again preferably held in position by means of wire 5l wound around the end of the hose.

The suction structurel 8 comprises a suitable digging or burrowing tool Eil' which is relatively long and tapered and provided with perforations t5, being preferably triangular in cross-section. 'I'his tool may be readily inserted in ballast between the ties, for example, without removing the ballast fro-m its position, and when suction is applied thereto through the hose, material no larger than the size of the perforations 65 is sucked into the tool and carried through the hose 6 into the corresponding conveyer casing I l or l2 to be disposed of as previously described. The tool 6d may be replaceable, being secured within an elbow 6 l having a threaded or other suitable swivel joint 68 to which the elbow 58 is pivotally secured. A boss or lug 62 is provided onV the elbow @l for receiving an impact member-63 for attachment to an air hammer. ,'Ihe general combination of the suction device and air hammer for this purpose is not part of our present invention, being fully set forth and claimed in our above-identified Patent No. 2,028,683.`

By means of swivel joint Gil, the burrowing tool 6:3 may be readily turned in any direction desired without it being necessary to change the position of hose 6. The elbow 5B and di insure sufficient clearance over a railroad tie, for example, to permit such flexible burrowing action.

The helical means or wire l' has one end secured within a loop 55S on a'rod 'l the outer end of which has a ball bearing or other suitable swivel connection in a lug 59 on the elbow 58 of suction structure 8. The other end of 'helical wire l', after passing over the handle it and conical connecting member B, is wound around a cylindrical portion thereof, as indicated by the reference character 69. In this way, the helical wire and the connecting member 39 are unitary in structure and may be removed or replaced very readily, as previously mentioned, by merely making a partial turn on the handle structure d.

The function of the helical wire 's' is to effectively scrape or clean the inside of the flexible tubular structure whenever the conveyer apparatus is carrying material in order to maintain the full inside diameter of the hose and prevent clogging or filling thereof. Such a function is particularly desirable in the case of wet material, as otherwise the hose would tend to become clogged and the efficiency and capacity of the apparatus would be reduced.

through hose 5 by fluid pressure, preferably suction, as hereinbefore described. 1

Another peculiarityabout the helical wire "l, which thus does not act as a conveyer but merely as a scraper, is that it is wound left-hand, while the rotation vof the wire as a whole is rightfhand. This combination was found to be more effective in scraping material from the walls and thus maintaining it in a loose condition to be sucked Wire l exerts no y conveying action, as the material is conveyed ythrough the hose, than if the wire 'l was wound in the same direction as its rotation.

While the pitch of the wire l in Fig. 1 is shown as substantially constant within hose 6, the pitch gradually decreases within the conveyer casing 2 as the wire 'I approaches conical connector 39, as shown in Fig. 4, for a purpose hereinaftermore fully set forth. If desired, however, the pitch of wire l may be varied gradually from the one end to the other, being larger at the free end or suction structure end and smaller at the interior end or the end attached to the detachable connecter 39. This variation in pitch within the hose 6, as shown in Fig; 6 by wire la, was also found to be effective in cleaning the hose and may be employed in lieu of a constant-pitch wire l, if desired.

The pitch arrangement of the helical wire 'l and the rotation thereof in the opposite sense to its direction of winding are the results of various experiments which thus provided not only a more efficient scraping,v tool but also increased the life thereof. By decreasing thepitch of wire 'i within casing 2 as it approaches the detachable connector 39, greater elasticity is imparted thereto to prevent fracture where it is fastened on to the connector. The particular method of such fastening, moreover, provides a desirable cushioning action. f

The operation of our apparatus may be de scribed as follows: Upon providing the `necessary power to drive the shaft 28 and, therefore, the helical ribbon conveyer blades 45a and Mb and Wire scraper 'Land also creating a suction in the vent pipe 5, dirt and other foreign matter of small diameter may be readily removed from ballast in place, for example, by burrowing the tapered head 64 in any desire-d direction into the ballast, whereby such material is shaken loose by the hammer attachment and then sucked through the perforations 65 into the tool the material thence passing through elbows Gl and 53 into hose 6 andthence into the corresponding casing l l or rl2 with a minimum of resistance being interposed by the handle member ai thereto, the air carrying the material suddenly expanding as itenters the combined conveyer and settling tank l, the majority of the dirt or othermaterial then being carried along by lthe helical ribbon conveyer blades @5a and 65h to the corresponding outlet d@ and thence through the corresponding unloading valve 3, as previously noted. Some of the material flies upwardly with the air, but drops as the latter ap# preaches the top of the settling tank and is likewise carried by the conveyer into the unloading valve. 'I'he action of the helical wire 1 vvery Lfeo Zau

effectively and efficiently scrapes the walls of the hose t to maintain the full inside diameter thereof, whereby wet material is carried along to the conveyer tank just as efficiently as dry material, and thus the capacity of the entire machine is maintained at the same high level, regardless of the degree of moisture in the material being removed.

By utilizing the unloader valves 3 located substantially as shown, a very effective continuous removal of the material pushed to the delivery end'of the casings Il and I2 by the helical conveyer ribbons-.45a and 45h is procured, so that a very rapid and effective cleaning of ballast in It will be seen -that We have thus provided a very effective and efcient device for conveying material, which is prevented from clogging or reducing the capacity of the apparatus and is conveyed to an efficient unloading valve to provide the desired quick and effective cleaning of ballast or the like.

We do not wish to be restricted to the specific structural details or arrangement of parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. We desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed thereon as are indicated in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising substantially helically Wound ilexible self-sustaining means for scraping the Walls of said structure, said means having a powerdriven end and the pitch of said means varying directly in accordance with the distance from said driven end.

2. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising a substantially helically Wound Wire for merely scraping the Walls of said structure, the pitch of said wire when extending substantially parallel to its axis being different at spaced regions along its length.

3. A flexible tubular structure for conveying material by fluid pressure comprising substantially helically Wound exible means open along the axis of the helix for scraping the Walls of said structure, said means having a power-driven end and the pitch of said means when extending substantially parallel to its axis being different near its driven end from that near its other end.

4. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising a single substantially helically Wound ilexible member open along the axis of the helix for scraping the Walls of said structure, said means having a power-driven end and the pitch of said means when extending substantially parallel to its axis being less near its driven end than that near its other end.

5. A flexible tubular structure for conveying material by uid pressure comprising substantially helically Wound flexible means open along the axis of the helix for scraping the walls of said structure, as distinguished from any conveying of the material, and power means for rotating said helically wound means in the opposite sense from its direction of helical Winding.

6. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising a substantially helically wound Wire for scraping the walls of said structure, said wire having a power-driven end and the pitch of said Wire varying relatively to the distance from said driven end, said wire being rotated from said driven end in the opposite sense from its direction of helical Winding.

7. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising substantially helically Wound flexible self-sustaining means for scraping the Walls of said structure, said means having a power-driven end and the pitch or" said means varying directly in accordance with the distance from said driven end, said means being rotated from said driven end in the opposite sense from its direction of helical winding.

8. A tubular structure for conveying material comprising a single substantially helically wound exible member open along the axis of the helix for scraping the Walls of said structure, said means having a power-driven end and the pitch of said means when extending substantially parallel to its axis being less near its driven end than that near its other end, said means being rotated from said driven end in the opposite sense from its direction of helical winding.

9. In combination, a tubular structure for conveying material comprising substantially helically wound means for scraping the walls of said structure, a suction structure at one end of said tubular structure, said helical means having a pivotal connection therewith, and power-driven means at the other end of said helical means having a readily detachable connection therewith.

10. In combination, a tubular structure for conveying material comprising substantially helically Wound means for scraping the Walls of said structure, power-driven means at one end of said helical means, a readily detachable connection between said two means, and a handle for said detachable connection, said handle extending within said helical means and being pointed to reduce resistance to the material moving therepast.

11.1n combination, a tubular structure for conveying material comprising substantially helically Wound means for scraping the walls of said structure, a casing attached to the delivery end of said tubular structure, a conveyer structure rotatable within said casing, and a readily detachable connection between said helical means and said conveyer structure.

12. A substantially cylindrical casing having a loading inlet and a discharge outlet, and a rotatable valve member Within said casing for continuously receiving material from said inlet and discharging material through said outlet, said valve member having flexible blades thereby to produce when they unlex an effective ejecting movement.

13. In combination, a substantially cylindrical first casing, a conveyer structure having substantially helically Wound edgewise-extending arms for conveying material through the casing and scraping the sides thereof, knife members mountw ed at the delivery end of said shaft to rotate with said arms and scrape the adjacent end Wall of said rst casing, said rst casing having an outlet in its cylindrical Wall at the delivery end, a second substantially cylindrical casing communicating With said outlet and disposed at subblades in said slots, said blades being readily removable longitudinally and being held in position by enlarged inner ends fitting in said enlarged inner ends of said slots.

WALTER S. RUGG. ALEXANDER PALMROS. 

